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What would you do if you could vanish?

Lola’s not pretty. Lola’s not popular. Lola wishes she could disappear … and then one day she does just that...

For seventeen-year-old Lola Savullo, life is a struggle. Born to funky parents who are more in than she could ever be, Lola’s dream of becoming a writer makes her an outsider even in her own home. Bullied and despised, Lola still has the support of her best pal Charlie and Grandma Rose.

Not only is she freakishly tall, Lola’s a big girl and when forced to wear a bathing suit at her summer job as a camp counselor, Lola’s only escape from deep embarrassment seems to be to literally vanish. Soon after, she discovers the roots of her new “ability”.

Slowly, with Charlie’s help, Lola learns to control the new super power. The possibilities are endless. Yet power can be abused, too…

When tragedy strikes, Lola must summon her inner strength, both at home and at school. She has to stand up for herself, despite the temptations and possibilities of her newfound super power.

A coming-of-age story that will warm the heart.

For a limited time, the ebook will be available for just 99 cents (FREE for KU)

Excerpt:

Chapter One

“Lola, get your suit on and help supervise the pool. The more
eyes the better,” Justine, the athletic, sun-kissed, twenty-one-year-old camp
director ordered once we wrangled our none-too-obedient charges off the bus.
The gaggle of four to eight year olds ran around in a loud, unruly horde as
soon as their sneakered feet hit the parking lot pavement. Counselors soon managed
some semblance of organization. Calls for straight lines and, “Hey, get back
here,” reached my ears.

Luckily, my group was well behaved,
perhaps because I had the fewest kids—only six of them and most, thank God, were
girls.

“Lola?” Justine was beside me,
glaring. “Didn’t you hear me?”

Without looking at her, I shook my
head no. But I had heard her, loud
and clear, except I wanted desperately to push her words away, hoping she’d
recant and it would be business as usual.

“Get. Your. Suit. On,” she said again
and this time, my heart took off in a sprint.

“What? Why?” I tried to hide the
wobble in my voice. It was my job to watch the kids who weren’t swimming—the
ones who’d left their suits at home or didn’t feel well.

Curious, expectant gazes turned to my
way as fellow counselors waited with evil half-grins, for my reaction. Although
no one, except my best friend Charlie, knew how I felt about wearing a bathing
suit, I realized my co-workers had to be aware of my private horror, because it
was the horror of every fat girl.

Justine sighed as she flipped through
the sheets on her clipboard, running a finger down the column of names. “No
campers are sitting out today, Lola, so you have to help supervise the pool.”

The impossible had just happened. In
my three summers as a counselor, there had always been at least one measly kid who didn’t swim on pool
day.

For one long, awkward moment, I stood
frozen in place. How could I get out of this? A sudden migraine? My period? I
tried to speak, but nothing came out except a tiny, almost inaudible, moan.

Justine rolled her eyes and walked
away, taking my chance for escape with her. I searched through my bag for my
black one-piece, barely able to see a thing through my tear-blurred eyes. Somehow,
I managed to stuff away the panic and gather the nerve to march past my
co-workers, who I’d never thought of as friends, despite working with them
summer after summer.

Finally, in the dank change room, I
entered an empty stall and locked the door with shaky fingers. I was sweating
from both the heat and anxiety. The stench of my panic filled my nostrils as I felt around in my bag
for a stick of deodorant, though I knew full well, I wouldn’t find one. With a
sigh, I stretched my suit over sweat-slicked skin, wriggling and struggling to
pull it up past wide hips and a bulging belly.

A moan escaped me. Not only was I
fat, I was freakishly tall. God only knew why, since Mom was petite and Dad was
on the short side. My older sister, Eva, was the spitting image of Mom, fair
and fine boned. Apparently, I took after Dad’s side—bulky, dark, and thick. I
must have gotten some of Uncle Sammy’s genes, the giant of the family, who topped
out at six foot five.

I peered down at the coarse dark hair
creeping up my calves to just past my knees, where it gradually petered out. My
insides dropped as if I’d placed a foot on a step that wasn’t there. I ran a
hand across the tops of my thighs. The triple bulge of my belly prevented a
good look at what my hand told me was a sorely neglected bikini area. There had
never been a reason to shave. Even in the blazing August heat, I wore baggy
cotton Capri pants, never exposing more than an ankle.

My throat pulsed with an ache to cry
and my eyes misted again. I swallowed my distress and pinched away tears. It
would be torturous enough to step out of the change room looking like this, but
I wouldn’t give the other counselors the satisfaction of watching me have a
meltdown. I lifted my chin in resolve and opened the door. As I peeked out, I
spied a line of girls jumping with excitement and a few harried counselors
corralling them to the exit.

A whistle blew, signaling the
beginning of the session. Screams of delight filled the air, as the kids ran to
the pool and jumped in, finding relief from the ninety-degree heat.

I fastened a towel around my waist as
best I could. Towels never seemed large enough to wrap completely and comfortably
around the bulge of my belly. To the pool I went, treading silently so as not
to draw attention.

“Where’s Lola?” Sonia, a counselor, asked
loudly to no one in particular.

She had to be joking. I was no more
than a foot from her as I trudged to the edge of the pool, where I yanked off
my towel and splashed clumsily into the cool water.

“Yeah. Where is that hippo?” Jerod
replied, looking around, a wide smile on his face. He was a year younger than
me, but looked older with his muscular build and chiseled jaw.

“I hope she doesn’t show,” he
continued, “who wants to see that thing in a bathing suit anyway?”

Sonia made her way over to Jerod,
laughing a little too hard. She put a hand on his shoulder and sat beside him;
both dangled long slender legs in the water. “Maybe she ran away. Can’t really
blame her. I’d never wear a bathing suit if I was that fat,” Sonia said.

Puzzlement and anger competed within
me. I was standing in the pool right in front of them! Jerod lifted a leg and
kicked at the water; splashes hit my face, making me turn away. I was used to
rude comments and knew what everyone thought of me, but this was beyond mean. I
couldn’t stop the tears from spilling down my cheeks. An urge to tell them off
surged through me. Instead, I slipped under the water, hoping to wash away the
evidence of my pain.

Kids bounced all around me, laughing
and playing. Justine stood like a sentinel, a Baywatch babe in her red suit,
one hand gripping an emergency flotation device. Her steel blue eyes were
focused on the pool.

Jerod jumped in, nearly landing on me,
but I managed to get out of the way just in time. Blood rushed to my temples
and pounded there, giving me an instant headache. I hurled myself at him,
elbows aimed at his chest. I hit nothing but air and flew into the rough
concrete wall of the pool, scraping a hole in my one-piece and rubbing raw a
patch of skin. Blood pin-pricked to the surface.

“Hey,” I screamed, bewildered. How
the hell did he get out of the way so fast?

Jerod slipped under the water looking
like a god, all six-packed lean muscle, and emerged at the other end of the
pool in one long, slick glide.

I pulled myself out of the water,
slipping one chubby leg over the lip then landing on my side like a beached
whale. After struggling to my feet and gathering up what was left of my
dignity, I marched over to Justine.

“Did you see what that asshole just
did?” I hollered. She was my boss and could probably can my ass for the way I’d
just spoken to her but I couldn’t help it. Frustration and anger had hijacked
my brain.

Justine brought the whistle hanging
from her neck to her lips and blew two sharp blasts, making my ears ring. “Stop
horsing around,” she called to a group of boys, who immediately offered up
sheepish grins and stopped their horseplay.

What the hell? I moved directly in
front of her so she could no longer ignore me. “Justine?”

She stared past me, eyes still glued
to the action in the pool. I reached to touch her shoulder but impossibly, my
hand fell through her.

“Justine?” I called again, this time
louder, my voice panic-laced. With both hands, I grabbed her, or tried to. Again, it was as if she wasn’t
there. My mind was swept along in a current of anxiety. What was happening?

Then it hit me... it was me who
wasn’t there.

Bio:

I've worked as a professional editor for one of the world's largest publisher for over twenty-five years and have written two novels and two novellas. Invisible is the closest to my heart.

When not writing, I enjoy spending time with my husband, Dave and our daughters, Nina and Sara as well as our fur babies, Spencer (a badly behaved Tabby) and Lila, a sweet Boston Terrier.

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